Tootheb roll crusher-feeder



Jan. 23, 1951 F. H. NICKLE ET AL TOOTHED ROLL CRUSHER-FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 50, 1944 'vfi INVENTORS 3 2 Q M 0 45 .mJ F O 9 4 5 /flw W. O 9 J a f w hm Z 5 ATTORNEY.

Jan. 23, 1951 NICKLE ET AL 2,539,317

TOOTHED ROLL CRUSHER-FEEDER Filed bot. so, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F1q. 5 W

44 lNVENTOR-S ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 23, 1951 TOOTHEEE ROLL CRUSHER-FEEBER Frank H. Nickle and Arthur G. Nickle, Saginaw, Mich.

Application (Ectober 30, 1944, Serial No. 561,125

3 Claims.

This invention relates to roll-type crusherfeeders adapted for ore-crushing bulk or lump materials and feeding the reduced product at any desired rate of flow to pulverizing mills .or other processing equipment that requires a steady influx. A specific application is the crushing and feeding of ear corn, or a composite mixture of ear corn and small grain, to attrition or hammer type feed-grinding mills that produce dairy feeds containing cob meal.

The crushing and feeding. of ear corn that is completely husked presents no difficulties for the conventional crusher-feeder, but when the husks are not removed, it becomes difficult to manually regulate the rate of efliux through the flow-controlling mechanism, because the bulky fibrous 'husks tend to clog the outlet ports. When this occurs the grinding mill runs empty, thereby wasting both power and time. To correct this difliculty, the operator must either open the flow control valve wider to permit the accumulation of husks to escape, or the machine must be stopped and the 'husks manually removed. If the operator opens the valve mechanism wide enough to permit the bulky husks to flow out freely with the reduced ear corn and small grain, then there is danger of the grinding mill becoming overloaded, especially so if the feed mixture contains small grain that tends to flow freely through the outlet ports leaving the more bulky cobs and husks behind.

In the conventional ear corn crusher, the outlet ports in the bottom of the housing are usually located so that the down-coming roll teeth exert a considerable amount of downward pressure that tends to force the materials through the outlet port openings. Inasmuch as the reduced material, under the influence of agitation effected by the roll teeth, flows through the openings in the same manner as a liquid, it will be apparent that the greater the pressure, the smaller the port opening must be for a given rate of flow. In other words, if the pressure resulting from the down-coming roll teeth becomes excessive over the port-opening, the corresponding port opening will be so small that the bulky fibrous husks cannot escape with the finer material.

It therefore becomes a prime object of this invention to provide an efilux-controlling mechanism that reduces the build-up pressure over the port openings to a minimum, thereby making- .it practical to operate. with relatively large port openings that permit the flow of the husks through the port openings withoutrclogging.

Other objects and improvements will be set forth in the following description, drawings, and appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. .1 is a transverse sectional elevation-a1 view of a two-roll type crusher-feeder embodying our. invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevational view taken on the .line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the solid lines showing the hand hole slides in raised position, the crushing rolls being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary isometric assembly view of the housing, bottom structure, and the nowcontrolling mechanism, one side and end wall be ing broken away to more clearly show the cons ruction, the control stem being shown detached.

Fig. 4 is a detail isometric view of the bottom construction of the housing.

Fig. 5 is an isometric inverted plan view of valve plates used for controlling the flow of the reduced materials from the machine, the broken lines showing the range of movement of the valve plates.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in which we have shown a preferred form of our invention, Iii is a rectangular housing adapted to receive materials from any source of supply. This housing comprises flanged end walls l I, side walls i2, and a bottom structure, shown in Fig. 4, that is detachably secured to the end walls. This removable bottom structure comprises a pair of spaced-apart angles [3 having horizontal legs M that serve as supporting rails for a pair of sliding valve plates, to be subsequently described, and vertical legs It provided with openings 15 to accommodate bo ts b or other means for fastening to the end walls I l The angles it are secured together by a centrally disposed flat bar H and an inverted V- shaped angle H? as shown, the several elements being welded together to provide a rigid H -shaped bottom structure forming opposed U-shaped openings 2c and 21 that serve as outlet ports for the reduced material when the valves are assembled in working relation.

The end walls I l are adapted to support flanged bearings (not shown), in which a pair of roll shafts 22 are journaled, the shafts projecting outwardly through the openings 23 to receive intermeshing spur gears (not shown) that make the roll shafts coacting when power is applied to either shaft, the rotation being in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. A series of axially spaced-apart teeth 2% are provided on the shafts 22 and these teeth rotate in close relation to the shear bars 25 for the purpose of reducing the material.

The side walls [2 comprise a pair of horizontally disposed angulated bars 26, a pair of angular members 21, top rails 28 and an inclined section 29 connecting the members 29 and 21-2, all of which are welded to the end walls H to provide a rigid structure. On the inside of the vertical leg 38 of the member 26, and detachably secured thereto by means of bolts BI, is the rigid stationary rectangular shear bar 25 that is positioned in close shearing relation to the peripheral' cutting edges on the roll teeth Zhas above 3 mentioned. The openings for the bolts 3| are drilled on the neutral axis of the shear bar, so that the bar may be reversed end for end, or turned over to bring any one of the four shearing edges in working relation with the adjacent crushing roll.

A detachable wear plate 32 is secured to the inner face of the inclined leg of the member 25 by means of flat head screws 33. This wear plate 32 also receives impact from the descending roll teeth. Directly above this inclined wear plate are a pair of handholes 34 that provide access to the machine to facilitate removal of any tramp metal that may be caught between the rolls and the shear bar. These handholes are normally closed by means of inclined sliding doors 36a which are locked in place by the cross bar 35 pivoted on the stud 36 which carries a wing nut Bl that clamps the ends of the cross bar to the door jamb 38.

The flow-controlling mechanism for the outlets 2G and 2| include a pair of valve plates 39 and id respectively that are slidably mounted upon the upper faces of the horizontal leg id of the side rails l3. The valve plates operate in the same plane below shear bars 25, and the portion of each plate that extends inwardly beyond the shear bar has its upper face and three edges completely submerged in the material undergoing reduction when valves are either partially open or fully closed. Consequently, the valve plates move freely without any tendency to bind or become frozen in place, which diiiiculty is encountered when the valve plates are slidably mounted in grooves or slots that may become packed with accumulations of reduced material.

To effect reciprocal co-ordinated movement of the valve plates in a direction that is at rightangles to the rolls thereabove, the Valve plates 39 and .9 are provided with rigid arms ii and 33 that project horizontally in parallel relation beyond the housing, the arm ll having an opening 22 at the outer end, and likewise a similar opening 64 in the end of arm 63. The valve plates are actuated by means of a vertical control stem 55 having a pair of downwardly projecting pintles 46 attached to the lower end thereof, and a handle ll is provided on the upper end for manually rotating the stem about 90, thereby imparting simultaneous movement to the valve plates in opposite directions, so that the area of the two valve openings are always equal regardless of how the efllux is varied.

The lower end 48 of the stem seats pivotally in opening 49 of the outwardly extending bracket 5% that is rigidly attached to cross member 2?. A similar bracket 5| is attached to member 2'? on opposite side of the housing, so that the stem may be assembled on this side. When so assembled, the valve plates 39 and it operate over outlet openings 2! and respectively.

In operation, the two streams of material fiowing through the valve openings are symmetrical with respect to the roll shafts, regardless of the rate of output. The valve plates move towards each other when the flow is interrupted, the travel of the valve plates being concurrent with the travel of the lowermost roll teeth thereabove. The valve openings are normally under the ascending roll teeth, hence, the downward pressure resulting from the descending roll teeth reacts upon the valve plates rather than downwardly over the port openings. In other words, the roll teeth sweep the material over the valve openings rather than through the valve openings. Hence, it will be apparent that there can be 4 little, if any, build-up pressure over the valve openings. Therefore, it becomes practical to 0perate this machine with relatively large valve openings for a given rate of output. Such large valve openings promote the outward how of the bulky ear corn husks that otherwise may accumulate in the machine and curtail operations.

This type of flow-controlling mechanism also eliminates another difliculty that is common to two-roll type crusher-feeders that have one or both valve openings under the descending roll teeth, this difficulty being the tendency for the outgoing material, under pressure due to the descending roll teeth, to crowd the valve or valves open and destroy the predetermined adjustment. This cannot happen in the instant construction, because there is little or no build-up pressure above the valve openings.

In other words, the maximum build-up pressure of the descending material is over the valve plate rather than over the valve opening. This downward pressure upon the valve plate increases the friction between sliding surfaces to the extent that'the valve plate is securely held against any unwarranted movement due to pressure of the outfiowing material upon the leading edge of the plate.

What we claim is:

1. In a machine for reducing and feeding material, the combination that includes a housing, a roll having a series of teeth for reducing the material in which it is submerged, a stationary shear bar positioned to receive impact from the descending roll teeth, a bottom structure having a rectangular outlet to permit passage of the reduced material underlying the roll, said outlet being defined on one side by the shear bar and on three sides by coplanar elements which include a pair of spaced-apart horizontal side rails having upper faces submerged in the material, a valve plate slidably mounted upon the upper faces of the side rails for controlling the rate of efiiux through outlet, said plate having three sides submerged in the material when the efiiux is completely cut off, and means supported by the housing for moving the valve plate at ri htangles to the shear bar to control the area of said outlet.

2. In a machine for reducing and feeding material, the combination that includes a housing, a roll having a series of teeth for reducing the material in which it is submerged, a stationary shear bar positioned to receive impact from the descending roll teeth, a bottom structure having a rectangular outlet to permit passage of reduced material underlying the roll, said outlet being defined on one side by the shear bar, on two opposite sides by side rails mounted below and at rightangles to the shear bar, and on the remaining side by a cross-bar which is coplanar with the side rails, a valve plate slidably mounted upon the upper faces of the side rails for interrupting the efllux, sa d interruption being complete when the plate is positioned in overlapping relation with the coplanar cross bar, and means supported by the housing for moving the valve plate at rightangles to its span, said means including a rotatable vertical stem that projects above the machine.

3. In a machine for reducing and feeding material, the combination that includes a housing that receives the material, a pair of rolls having teeth submerged in the material undergoing reduction, a bottom structure having a rectangular outlet underlying each roll, each of the said outlets being defined on two opposite edges by horizontal side rails underlying ends of rolls and at rig'htangles thereto, a pair of rectangular valve plates slidably mounted upon the upper faces of the side rails and overlapping the marginal edges thereof within the confines of the housing, and means in common for imparting reciprocal coordinated movement to the valve plates for simultaneously interrupting the two streams of reduced material flowing through the outlets, said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Brown Jan. 23, 1872 Creager Mar. 27, 1888 Creager 1- July 3, 1888 Woodward et a1 Apr. 30, 1889 Winchell Oct. 20, 1891 Engel Feb. 9, 1904 Byrd Mar. 16, 1920 Buchanan June 28, 19 32 Lind Oct. 28, 1941 Ward June 2, 1942 Nickle Sept. 21, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Apr. 16, 1896 

